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Cooking Cousins!

Last weekend, Teen in Line, 13, had her cousin over for a sleepover. These two girls have been through everything together since birth, and in many ways, they are more like siblings than cousins. At times, I think it must be hard for them to be in the same grade at the same small school (K through 8) because on the one hand, they are so similar, while on the other, they are so very different from each other.

So, over the years, they have done what many siblings do -- grown very close and then drifted apart in phases, depending on where they were and what they were experiencing at the moment. I will say this, however. When the chips are down, family is family, and these girls know blood is thicker than just about anything else. Ultimately, each knows she can count on her cousin through thick and through thin. They seem to get along best when it's just the two of them, mano y mano, if you will. No social pretenses or pressures to worry about. And no other cousins to pull them in another direction (mainly apart!).

One thing the girls share is a love of cooking. Among other things, my sister and her husband have done an outstanding job of instilling a love of cooking in their children. Their three kids are more capable in a kitchen than just about any others I know, especially the youngest two. When they were staying with us last fall while their parents were in Italy, my nephew asked if he could fry himself up some fish. Well, in no time at all, he had transformed a small piece of cod into a gourmet feast. And all the while, he was chatting away and carrying on. It was absolutely darling. I kid you not, the child could have his own television series. But I digress...

Back to the girls. So, when my niece arrived on Saturday, I knew right away that I was going to put the girls on green bean detail for dinner. I'd had the pleasure of eating their beans last summer in the North Woods and thought that would be the perfect task to give them, so I could hurry up and get yet another Desperation Dinner on the table. The girls readily agreed, so while I worked on doctoring up some leftover potatoes and my Big Strong Man got the coals going to grill some turkey tenderloins that had been marinating, the girls went to work snapping the beans.

Here's a sampling of the comments/questions (mostly from my niece!) I got while the girls cooked:

• Do you have any real garlic that we can run through the press? (instead of the already pressed garlic in a jar from the fridge...just call me shortcut mom...)
• OK, we need at least 3 big cloves, maybe 4 (gotta' love that Italian blood my brother-in-law gave her...)
• A little olive oil...that should do it!
• Do you have any kosher salt?
• Oh, good. Fresh ground pepper.
• Now, do you have an open bottle of wine, preferably a nice white? (Betty Ford Clinic, here she comes...!)
• (Then, when I asked her if she'd like me to pour it in the pan for her...) Oh, no I can do it. Anyway, I'm not ready for it yet. I just use it to deglaze the pan. (Yes, my niece really did utter those exact words...)
• We don't want to overcook them...that's the worst.
• Perfect. Now, let's take them off the burner, so they'll stop cooking.

And that last assessment was correct. They were, indeed, perfect. Delish. So much so, in fact, that my picky Princess in Waiting ate them cold when she got home from work. And believe me, that's saying something!

Yum-oh.

Teens and cooking. Keeps 'em off the streets. Gotta' love it!